Family missing at sea may be a hoax

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Family missing at sea may be a hoax

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) — The U.S. Coast Guard is suspending its search off the California coast for a distressed 29-foot sailboat that was carrying a couple and two children, and explained the incident is “possibly a hoax,” Cmdr. Don Montoro said Tuesday.

The mission’s cost has reached hundreds of thousands of dollars since Sunday, he said.

Searchers have been scouring the water off San Francisco for the people distress calls said were on the boat. That included the couple, their 4-year-old child and the child’s cousin, who the Coast Guard said was younger than 8.

On Sunday afternoon, the Coast Guard received a radio communication that stated: “This is the Charm Blow, we are abandoning ship.”

The man on the radio told the Coast Guard that the boat had begun taking on water and its electronics were failing, the agency said. At that time, the boat was believed to be some 65 miles (105 kilometers) off Pillar Point, south of San Francisco.

The focus of the search had been 60 to 65 miles off Monterey Bay, said Lt. Heather Lampert, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.